Green Oak Township is moving forward with regulations that would better define what materials can be dumped or used as fill on property within the municipality’s limits.

The township’s Board of Trustees on Wednesday introduced the Soil Removal Ordinance, which regulates the dumping of soil, sand, clay, or gravel on any parcel of land within township limits. The ordinance was prompted by a recent request from an applicant seeking a fill permit, which Township Supervisor Mark St. Charles says led to a “long, drawn-out discussion about what type of fill materials were allowed”. St. Charles says the township knew what materials they would permit, but that the applicant was relying on what was allowed under the Environmental Protection Agency and the department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, formerly known as the Department of Environmental Quality. The board approved the fill permit with conditions, but decided it was time to further define what is not allowed in the township based on their own standards, not state agencies’.

St. Charles tells WHMI it’s important to regulate fill materials because items like plastic, metal and brush, can make an area look like it’s covered in garbage. He further says that the township has no objection to someone balancing their property, but that “it’s not going to look like a dump”. In addition to avoiding the appearance of blight, St. Charles says using certain materials can cause other issues, adding that he has had an experience in which vegetation that was buried as fill caused the production of methane gas, which can cause problems in the future.

The ordinance permits “inert materials” as fill, but excludes trees, brush, wood, building materials, plastic, metal, or concrete or asphalt larger than six inches in diameter. Permits are required for any dumping of fill on any property within the township. The Board of Trustees will decide whether to adopt the Soil Removal Ordinance at a future meeting. (DK)